World Map Project Tocuz in Moldova

FLEX alumni from Moldova have also taken a big part in Global Youth Service Day! Alexandr Hriptun’08, and Maxim Grama’12 organized a very unusual project named "World map Project Tocuz". It took place from April 10 through April 27 in Chisinau and Tocuz District

On April 10 ten volunteers took part in the seminar “Team Work and Group Dynamics in Community Oriented Projects”. In the beginning of the seminar Michael Watts, Peace Corps volunteer of business development program talked about the projects that he is working on right now, while on his term in Moldova, about projects he was a part of back in the USA. Michal’s commitment to the idea of volunteering served as a great inspirational example to the participants. After Michael’s inspirational speech, Liliana Butnaru, a freelance trainer and former Organization and Community Development Program Manager at Peace Corps Moldova started the group dynamics part of the seminar. The participants were divided into several groups and played several teambuilding games. The game was followed by reflection period when the participants expressed their opinions on the game and how this experience can be transferred onto community projects management. Liliana also encouraged participants to stay active in the life of their communities and follow the path of volunteering. Afterwards, Alexandr Hriptun talked about Global Youth Service Day and the very World Map Project Tocuz. 

On April 13 Alexandr Hriptun and Nicu Gaibu'12 travelled to Tocuz district to prepare the background of the map, together with the children, which was used for the further steps of creating the map. On April 20 the group of 10 volunteers travelled to the school for the first big part of the project implementation. The volunteers were divided into two groups, one group was organizing various game activities with the children outside, while another group was creating the map grid and started working on the outline of the map. After lunch children of the boarding school were watching a movie together with several volunteers, while the rest of volunteers were drawing the borders of the countries on the map. On April 27 the volunteers travelled to the village once more, this time having prepared a different set of activities. Another group of volunteers was painting the map together with several school children who wanted to be involved in map coloring. On May 1 Alexandr Hriptun and Gabriela Cernalev’11 visited the school once more and finalized the map, signing the names of the countries and outlining the borders.

The main goal of the project was creating the map which will be visual help in education at the boarding school, and it was achieved. The alumni established a good partnership with school administration and several organizations and people who offered support to the project. Besides the participants gained experience in working and organizing leisure activities for children from underprivileged families.

Moreover, on May 22 Alexandr Hriptun, Dragalina Birsan and Nicu Gaibu were invited to Radio Moldova to talk about “World Map Project Tocuz”. The team discussed the idea and history of the project, what was done in Tocuz, why this village and school were chosen and what further ideas can be implemented. Also, an article about “World Map Project Tocuz” and other charity projects organized starting December 2012 will be soon published on one the most visited Moldovan online platforms for women www.alllady.md.

This all is a lot of hard work and also creative ideas of a community service project! Way to go, Alexandr and Maxim! We hope that the map you created will not only serve as a useful tool, but a great memory about your big efforts and time you spent with the kids! Thank you!